The invention concerns a device for detaching a carrier that has been temporarily fixed on the upper surface of a semi-conductor disk. The term xe2x80x98semi-conductor diskxe2x80x99, according to the invention, covers all types of carrier plates or substrate disks.
Mostly thin and/or large semi-conductor disks (wafers) are very difficult to handle. For example, when necessary to manufacture and/or process a wafer with thickness of  less than 100 xcexcm, it is a known fact that one has to first start with a xe2x80x9craw piecexe2x80x9d of higher thickness (for example 600 xcexcm) and then treat it according to the following procedure (FIG. 5):
You have to first arrange for electrical/electronic structures xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d on a surface of the wafer (FIG. 5a).
Thereafter, a protection/adhesive layer xe2x80x9cKxe2x80x9d is applied on this surface (so-called xe2x80x9cprotective resistxe2x80x9d) (FIG. 5b).
Thereafter, a so-called carrier C is bonded to the above mentioned protective/adhesive resist (so-called xe2x80x9cbonding processxe2x80x9d) (FIG. 5c). While doing so, the carrier can be alternatively or cumulatively equipped with a corresponding adhesive surface F. The carrier enables easier handling of the unit, prepared by wafer and carrier (so-called xe2x80x9cstackxe2x80x9d).
The wafer can now be processed (xe2x80x9creducedxe2x80x9d) in its structure-free area to the desired final thickness. This can be done, for example, through grinding, etching, and/or polishing, so-called xe2x80x9cback-thinningxe2x80x9dxe2x80x94FIG. 5d. This xe2x80x9cback-thinningxe2x80x9d is done until the area of the aforementioned structures xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d is reached.
In the next procedural step, electrical connections E and/or other structures are arranged on the now exposed second surface of the wafer (FIG. 5e).
For further processing/transportation steps, it is necessary to detach the carrier C again from the semi-conductor article. This is extremely difficult because the wafer that has now been reduced, for example, to a thickness of  less than 100 xcexcm is highly sensitive. This is mostly true for brittle semi-conductor materials, for example wafer made of gallium arsenide.
It is known that for the above-mentioned bonding between wafer and carrier adhesives or adhesive strips that lose their bonding capacity under heat may be used. The carrier can then be mechanically detached from the wafer. The problem, however, is then of transporting the extremely thin wafer safely to the next processing stages. Mechanical gripper devices are no solution to this problem because they cause mechanical stresses in the wafer that can eventually cause the wafer to break.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a possibility of not only safely detaching a temporarily fixed carrier from a first surface of a semi-conductor wafer but also of transporting it to the other processing stages without causing any damage to the wafer.
The basic idea of this invention is to arrange the unit including the wafer and carrier (the xe2x80x9cstackxe2x80x9d) on another carrier device before detaching the carrier from the wafer and while doing so, temporarily fixing the wafer once again on its surface opposite to the carrier. In one respect, this enables easy detachment of the carrier from the wafer. In another respect, the wafer is then directly made available in a customized and defined position for further processing stages, including transport.
Specifically, it is proposed that the stack be positioned within a frame and aligned vis-à-vis the frame. Later, a foil should be made available that is bonded to the center of the second surface of the wafer opposite to the carrier and to the outer side of the frame.
If the carrier is then detached from the wafer using known methods, the wafer, now arranged in the described further treatment and transport device, comprising the foil and frame, is directly available for further processing steps. The wafer can be transported along with the frame to a subsequent cutting unit or the like, without the wafer itself being subjected to any mechanical stress, where the wafer that is still arranged on the foil, is cut into so-called chips.
These chips that are generally of a size of a few cm2 feature a sufficient degree of resistance to bending due to their small size so that they can then be mechanically separated from the foil.
If required, the surface of the wafer facing the carrier can be cleaned beforehand. Even for this step, the customized unit comprising of frame and foil is a major help.
In its most general embodiment, the invention concerns a device for detaching a carrier that has been temporarily fixed on a first surface of a semi-conductor disk from the semi-conductor disk with the following features:
a first device (device 1) for guiding a frame with upper and lower sides,
a second device (device 2) for guiding the semi-conductor disk with the carrier into a space limited by the frame,
a third device (device 3) for a flush alignment of an inner near edge surface of the frame with a second surface of the semiconductor disk that is turned away from the carrier,
a fourth device (device 4) for guiding a foil that has at least a partial adhesive layer on at least one of its main surfaces,
a fifth device (device 5) for forming an adhesive bond between the surface of the foil with said adhesive and the second surface of the semi-conductor disk and the inner, near edge upper side of the frame, and
a sixth device (device 6) for detaching the carrier from the semiconductor disk.
The scope of the invention includes the development of at least one of the mentioned devices including at least one function of another device. Thus, one of the devices 1 to 3 can be constructed in such a way that it includes at least one function of the other device. Thus, the second device used for guiding the wafer with carrier (stack) into the space limited by the frame can be simultaneously used for the fleeting alignment of the inner surface close to the edge of the frame with the second surface of the wafer that is turned away from the carrier, i.e., simultaneously take over the function of the third device.
Similarly, the fourth and fifth devices can be combined to form one device that fulfills both the functions.
According to one embodiment, at least one of the devices 1, 2 or 6 comprise a gripper. This gripper device can be used for placing the frame or the unit wafer/carrier unit onto a table. This can be done by simultaneously performing the function of the third device so that the corresponding surfaces of frame and wafer are arranged flush. The fourth unit may comprise a pull-off unit that leads the foil from a roll over the frame and wafer and then presses the foil by itself (rolls) or with the help of another device onto the mentioned surface sections of said frame and wafer and also cuts the foil, if required.
The foil has at least some adhesive areas on the side facing the wafer and frame. It can be made of some plastic base material, say PVC, and an adhesive coating.
As soon as the foil is stuck onto the frame or the second wafer surface, respectively, the carrier may be detached from the wafer using known methods, for example by heating, with UV-light or a solvent. While doing so, it remains bonded to the foil that has in turn been fixed to the frame.
In order to detach the carrier, the entire unit comprising frame, foil, wafer and carrier can be turned by 180xc2x0 if required. The lower side then lies on the top.
In order to simplify the process of positioning the wafer in the opening of the frame, one embodiment provides to arrange the wafer with a certain distance to the inner edge of the frame. In other words, the diameter of a wafer, typically of circular shape, is less than the internal diameter of the frame.
Other features of the invention result from the features of the sub-claims and other application documents.